Officiating in playoffs

[henchmanUK]

Is it me or has the officiating in the playoffs been absolute horseshtein? My second favourite screw up was the Asante Samuel pass interference which, if anything, was OFFENSIVE pi. However, that was topped in spectacular fashion by the Polamalu interception, fumble then recovery which they got spectacularly wrong EVEN AFTER REPLAY. Scrap replay, it delays the game too much and gives officials a comfort zone which has led to the worst officiated playoffs I can remember.

[MadMarchHare]

You might also include the Bailey fumble - that should have been a touchback.
In related news, watching Ben Watson haul ass 100 yds to hit Bailey at the one was farging amazing.

[PhillyGirl]

I was totally disgusted with the Polamalu farg up on the replay.

[hunt]

if not for replay, they would've given thomas jones a td on the play where he fumbled at the 1...

[Diomedes]

In related news, watching Ben Watson haul ass 100 yds to hit Bailey at the one was farging amazing.

No shtein.  Kid is a football player.

[bobbyinlondon]

Where do you want to start? It started with som eridiculous non-calls and reversals in the reular season. Jeff Tripplette, who called the Denver game, was in the middle of that Pittsburgh-Detroit fiasco a few years ago on Thanksgiving Day.

--The PI call in Denver

--The non-interference call on Randle-El

--The overturning of the I-caught-the-ball-rolled over-still had it-kicked it out when I got up INT.

--how about the non-call on the offsides by the Colts? The Steelers didn't move, the Colts WHOLE defensive line was in the Steeler backfield, yet it WASN'T EITHER OFFSIDES OR ILLEGAL PROCEDURE (which it clearly wasn't)

--the non-call in the Bears game for delay of game, when Grossman threw his INT

[MURP]

yeah, it has been pretty damn bad.  But Im not surprised, and neither are you. 

[Geowhizzer]

You might also include the Bailey fumble - that should have been a touchback.
In related news, watching Ben Watson haul ass 100 yds to hit Bailey at the one was farging amazing.

Looking at the replay, I thought it should have been a touchback, but I would not have been able to definitively say so.  If the refs had originally called it a touchback, it would not have been overturned.  They called it out at the one, it wasn't overturned.

The replay just wasn't definitive enough to overturn the call either way.

[Phillyiggles_fan]

Yeah, I agree it sucks. 

And all week at work I've been dealing with Pats fans saying how they're going to kick Denver's butt.  Now I know they're all going to blame it on the referee's.

But the ref didn't cause five turnovers.

[SunMo]

--how about the non-call on the offsides by the Colts? The Steelers didn't move, the Colts WHOLE defensive line was in the Steeler backfield, yet it WASN'T EITHER OFFSIDES OR ILLEGAL PROCEDURE (which it clearly wasn't)

i agree that there should've been a call there.  but several things were missed.  first of all, Faneca of the Steelers did move, but the officials missed it.  but once the entire Colts d-line jumps offsides and makes contact with the o-line, how can there be no call?

--the non-call in the Bears game for delay of game, when Grossman threw his INT

for whatever reason, that happens a lot in the NFL, you can watch just about any game on any Sunday and see that happen.  it just so happened to be more in the spotlight because of the result of the play.

[Geowhizzer]

Yeah, I agree it sucks. 

And all week at work I've been dealing with Pats fans saying how they're going to kick Denver's butt.  Now I know they're all going to blame it on the referee's.

But the ref didn't cause five turnovers.

My Pats fan wife put it where it belonged:  on the turnovers.

Now, her brother... 

[PhillyPhreak54]

Another thing...

Peyton should've been called for a safety yesterday.

The ball was in the endzone. Granted his feet were on the 1-inch line butthe ball broke the plane of the goalline. But they said no safety because of where his feet where.

But look at it from the opposite way...

If the Colts have the ball on the 1 yard line and are coming out...let's say they hand it off to Edge. Edge gets hung up and dives to get the ball over the goal line. No safety because the ball wasn't in the endzone...no matter where his feet were.

I thought a spot was meant to be where the ball is when your knee is down...right? So it should've been a safety.

[Diomedes]

I'll be looking out for a report on the officiating grades at the end of the season.  I know the league (or someone) reviews the whole season, official by official.  My impression is that this has been a particularly poor season, but that's just a gut feeling. 

[Cerevant]

I was totally disgusted with the Polamalu farg up on the replay.

I think the refs got it right, it is the rule which is totally wrong.  One of these days I'm going to pick up a copy of the NFL rule book, but for now you are going to have to put up with my memory and speculation.

There is something funky in the rules for possession that says that if the player goes down while catching the ball, they have to retain possession until they get back up or until the play is over.  That's why a when player who catches the ball, gets both feet in bounds, then hits the ground (say, diving catch) and the ball bounces away it is ruled incomplete.

The official ruled that the ball came out while Polamalu was still on the ground (knee touching).  It is the farging tuck rule all over again - yes it is stupid, but by the letter of the law, they made the right call.

[SunMo]

so much for the "it was the right call by the rulebook" bullshtein

NFL: Polamalu play was 'judgment call'
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Posted: January 16, 2006

Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Referee Pete Morelli's decision to overturn an apparent interception by Pittsburgh's Troy Polamalu late in the Steelers game Sunday in Indianapolis was a judgment call, the NFL said Monday.

It came with 5:26 left in Pittsburgh's 21-18 win over the Colts.

Polamalu made a diving catch. When he got up to run, he fumbled the ball, then recovered. Colts coach Tony Dungy challenged and Morelli ruled Polamalu had not completed the catch, so it was an incomplete pass.

About a dozen TV and scoreboard replays indicated otherwise.

The Colts kept the ball and went on to score, cutting Pittsburgh's lead to three points in a game that ended with a missed field goal by Indy's Mike Vanderjagt that could have sent it to overtime.

"The issue was whether he had possession. The ball came loose when he was getting up. Pete Morelli determined it wasn't a catch," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said. "That was his judgment."

Aiello added that the league's officiating department had not yet officially reviewed the call to determine if Morelli had made the right decision.

The NFL almost never makes public the result of its reviews, although it did three years ago, when supervisor of officials Mike Pereira said officials should have called pass interference against San Francisco on the final play of a wild-card game with the New York Giants. The correct call would have given New York a second chance to kick a game-winning field goal in a 39-38 loss.

Aiello had no comment on a remark by Pittsburgh's Joey Porter, who said of the Polamalu ruling:

"I know they wanted Indy to win this game; the whole world loves Peyton Manning. But come on, man, don't take the game away from us like that."

In the past, players who have made comments like that have been subject to fines.